Getting started
V2 General Guide
New to Timesact, or moving over from V1? This is your quick tour: what changed, where everything lives, and how to set up your first pre-order (or any other functionality). No technical know-how needed. What's new in V2 In V1, every functionality had its own separate setup, one for Pre-order, one for Back in Stock, and so on, and you configured them one at a time. V2 brings it all together into one reusable thing called a customer experience template. Think of it as a single setup thatFeaturedCustomer Experience Templates Workflow
There is no single right way to organize your functionality. You can keep one functionality per customer experience template, or combine several into one. Both produce the same result on the storefront; the difference is how you manage them. This article shows both, using Pre-order plus Notify Me as the example. The two building blocks A customer experience template can hold one functionality or several. A single variant can have more than one customer experience template attached;FeaturedAdding Products
Once you've created your customer experience templates, the next step is to add your products and choose which customer experience template applies to each one. You do all of this on the Products page. Where to find it In the app's left menu, click Products. This is where you pick which customer experience template applies to which products, and manage them all in one place. Step 1 — Add your products Click Add Products (top right). You'll be asked how you want to choose products,Few readers
Main Functionalities
Pre-Order
A purchase functionality that replaces the Add to Cart button with a Pre-order button, so shoppers can buy a product before it's available and have it shipped once it's ready. Overview & core functionality Pre-order is purchase functionality in Timesact. It replaces the Add to Cart or Sold Out button on your storefront with a Pre-order button, and sets when the customer is charged and when their order ships. How it fits into v2 In v2, functionality and its configuration live inside aFew readersBack in Stock
A notification functionality that lets shoppers sign up to be emailed the moment an out-of-stock product is back. What it does When a product or variant is out of stock, Back in Stock shows a sign-up button on your storefront. A shopper leaves their email, and Timesact emails them automatically as soon as the item is back in stock. It is notification functionality in Timesact. How it fits into V2 Like every functionality, Back in Stock lives inside a customer experience template,Few readersComing Soon
A display functionality that swaps the Add to Cart button for a non-clickable "Coming Soon" button, so you can tease a product before it launches. What it does Coming Soon replaces the Add to Cart (or Sold Out) button on your storefront with a "Coming Soon" button, so shoppers can see an upcoming product before it is available to buy. It is display only. There is no purchase and no email sign-up, it simply shows the button, and optionally a badge or a countdown timer, to build a bit ofFew readersLow Stock
An urgency functionality that shows low-stock messaging once a variant's stock drops to a number you set, while the product stays fully buyable. What it does When a variant's available stock falls to or below a number you choose, Timesact shows low-stock messaging on your storefront, a button label, a message, and an optional badge or countdown timer, to create a sense of urgency. The product stays buyable the whole time. Low Stock does not stop the sale, the shopper can still add theFew readers
Notifications
Notifications Overview
Everything Timesact can send to your customers: what sets off each message, the three channels you can send through, and where to set each one up. You pick the channel per functionality, inside each customer experience template, so different products can be handled differently. The messages Timesact can send Back in stock, subscribed — a shopper submits the Notify Me form. Goes to that shopper (a confirmation). Back in stock, ready — a variant someone signed up for is restocked. GoeFew readersAdd Newsletter Sign-ups to Your Customer List
Turn Back in Stock sign-ups into Shopify customers with marketing consent, automatically, using Shopify's free Flow app. This builds on Notifications - Shopify Flow When a shopper leaves their email on your Notify Me form and ticks the newsletter box, that email lives in Timesact so we can alert them about the restock. It does not automatically become a Shopify customer record, so it will not show up in Shopify CusFew readersNotifications - Built in
Timesact's default channel: transactional emails sent for you, edited in the app, no integration needed. For an overview of all channels and the events Timesact sends, see Notifications Overview. Where the content lives Open Notifications from the main app sidebar (not the one inside a customer experience template). This page has two parts: the sender domain setup and the list of customer notifications. CuFew readersNotifications - Shopify Flow
Build your own branded, multi-step automations on Timesact events using Shopify's free Flow app. Currently available for Back in Stock only. For how this compares to the other channels, see Notifications Overview If you do not have it yet, install Flow from the Shopify App Store. The triggers Timesact gives you Customer signed up for back-in-stock alert — runs when a shopper submits the Notify Me form. Back-iFew readersNotifications - Klaviyo
Route Timesact events into Klaviyo so your existing flows, templates, and segments do the sending. For how this compares to the other channels, see Notifications Overview. Connect Klaviyo In the app, open Billing & Account from the main sidebar. Click the Integrations tab. On the Klaviyo card, click Connect. You are redirected to Klaviyo's sign-in screen. Sign in, or pick the account if you have seFew readers
Markets, Locations and Translations
Markets and Locations
Control where a customer experience template applies and which stock it watches. Market scope decides who sees it, inventory location scope decides which stock it reacts to. Both live under Markets & locations inside a customer experience template. The two settings Inside a customer experience template, the Markets & Locations page has two settings that work independently of each other: Market scope (Select market scope) — which shoppers the customer experience template appliesFew readersTranslations
Show your storefront text (the button, message, badge, cart label, Notify Me form, and so on) in each language and market. Translations are done in Shopify's free Translate & Adapt app, not inside Timesact. This guide walks you through it step by step. How translations work Each customer experience template you build is saved as a Shopify item called a Timesact Customer Experience (Shopify calls these "metaobjects"). The text that shows on your storefront lives inside that item, in fielFew readersTranslations with Langify
Using langify instead of Shopify's Translate & Adapt? This guide shows you how to translate your Timesact storefront text (the button, message, badge, cart alerts, timer and Notify Me form) with langify, step by step. How it works Each customer experience you build in Timesact is saved as a Shopify item called a Timesact Customer Experience (Shopify calls these "metaobjects"). Everything a shopper reads lives inside that item, in fields named pre_order_config, back_in_stock_config, cFew readers
Pre-Order Settings Explained
How Pre-Orders Work
What actually happens behind the scenes when you run a pre-order: how it is powered, when it shows, how customers are charged, when it ships, and how stock is handled. This is the concept behind the settings in the Pre-order **article, written so you understand the mechanics without needing to be technical. The pre-order Functionality settings are reusable building blocks, this article gives the overview and links to a dedicated aFew readersBilling and Split payments
Billing decides how and when the customer is charged for a pre-order. Both options place a real order, the difference is when the money is collected. It is one of the reusable pre-order building blocks, for the overview see How Pre-orders Work. You set it under Functionality settings, Billing. The optional pre-order discount also lives here. Which payment methods work with pre-orders Pre-orders use Shopify's defFew readersShipping dates
The shipping date is not just a label. It sets the delivery commitment Shopify records on the pre-order, it is shown to the customer, it decides how the order looks and behaves in your admin, and for deferred or split payments it can drive when the balance is charged. This article covers all of it, from how you set it to what happens to the order. It is one of the reusable pre-order building blocks, for the overview see [How Pre-orders Work](https://help.timesact.com/en-us/article/how-pre-orFew readersWhen Pre-order shows
When Pre-order shows decides when the Pre-order button shows, worked out per variant from the variant's Shopify stock. It is one of the reusable pre-order building blocks, for the overview see How Pre-orders Work. You set it under Functionality settings. How it works Timesact works out a status for each variant from its Shopify stock and the mode you choose, and the storefront shows the matching button. There arFew readersInventory and Fulfillment
How a pre-order is fulfilled, when its available quantity is reduced, and how out-of-stock items stay buyable. These are reusable pre-order building blocks, for the overview see How Pre-orders Work. You set these under Functionality settings. Deferred fulfillment A pre-order is placed now but fulfilled later. The shipping date you set travels with the order and is shown to the customer, so they know when to expeFew readersPre-Order Limit
The pre-order limit caps how many pre-orders you accept, so you do not commit to more than you can deliver. It is one of the reusable pre-order building blocks, for the overview see How Pre-orders Work. How to set it Pre-order quantity is Unlimited by default. To cap it, turn Unlimited off and enter a number in the pre-order quantity setting (available when you configure the customer experience template on a proFew readers
Managing Pre-Orders in Shopify
Remove from On Hold
Pre-order orders are often kept on a fulfillment hold so they do not ship before your stock arrives. When you are ready to ship, you release the hold. This is done in Shopify, on the order, and it is the step that lets a held pre-order become fulfillable. What "on hold" means On the order in Shopify, the unfulfilled items show an On hold status. A hold is a deliberate block that stops the items from being fulfilled, put there by you, or by an app or automation, so a pre-order does not gFew readersShipping Profiles and Locations
Shipping profiles control which shipping rates a customer is offered, based on which products they are buying and which location those products ship from. They matter for pre-orders because pre-order items often ship later, or from a different location, than your in-stock items, and you may want them priced or handled differently. This is all set in Shopify. What a shipping profile is A shipping profile is a set of shipping rules for specific products and locations. Every Shopify storeFew readersShopify Order Tags
Timesact automatically tags pre-order orders in Shopify. Those tags let you filter your Orders list down to just pre-orders and save that as a permanent view, so you can find and work them in one place instead of hunting through every order. This is all done in Shopify. The tags Timesact adds When a pre-order is placed, Timesact tags the Shopify order automatically, you do not add these by hand: Pre-order — added to every order that contains at least one pre-order item. Partial PreFew readersModify Charge Date
On a pre-order with a deferred or split payment, the remaining balance is scheduled to be charged on a set date. You can move that date, earlier or later, by editing the order's payment terms in Shopify. This changes when the customer is charged for the balance, and nothing else. Before you start This applies only to pre-order orders that still have a balance owing. On the order you will see a payment status of Partially paid or Unpaid, and a Payment pending section showing the amount oFew readersCapture Split payment Early
When a pre-order was placed with a split payment, the customer paid a deposit (or nothing) at checkout and the rest is scheduled to be collected later. If you need that remaining balance sooner, for example because the product is ready to ship ahead of schedule, you can collect it early. This is done in Shopify, on the order itself, not in Timesact. Before you start This applies to pre-order orders that still have a balance owing. On the order in Shopify you will see: A payment statuFew readersHide Sold Out
Hide Sold Out takes products off your storefront once every tracked variant has sold out, and brings them back on their own when stock returns. What it does When all of a product's tracked variants reach zero, Timesact hides the product. When stock comes back, Timesact shows it again. You set it up once and it runs across your whole store. It sits in the Storewide category, alongside Purchase, Notification, Availability and Urgency. It is the only functionality that works on every produFew readersTag Automation in V2
Tag automation attaches products to a customer experience template automatically, using a Shopify tag, so you do not have to pick them one by one. For adding products by hand, see Adding Products What it does You choose a tag. Any product in Shopify carrying that tag is added to this customer experience template on its own, and removing the tag in Shopify removes that product from the template again. There is no manual sFew readersThe add-on, Alerts and Slack
The add-on is an optional extra you can put on top of any plan. It unlocks Hide Sold Out and alerts, and you can also buy it on its own. What you get Hide sold-out products, covered in Hide Sold Out. Alerts by email and Slack, so Timesact tells you when something happens in your store. Adding it Open Billing & Account. On the add-on card, click Add add-on, then approve the charge in Shopify as you would for any pFew readers
Testing and Troubleshooting
How to test a customer experience template before you launch it, and how to fix the most common things that look wrong. Almost everything comes down to a variant's status, its stock, or where the customer experience template is scoped, all of which you can check yourself in a couple of minutes. Before you go live Run through this quick checklist on any product you are about to launch: The customer experience template has the functionality you want, and that functionality shows as ActFew readersAnalytics
See how your customer experience templates are performing, from sign-ups and orders through to revenue and conversion. Analytics is split into pre-order reports and Notify Me (back in stock) reports, each with its own breakdowns. Where to find it Open Analytics from the main app sidebar. The landing page lists every report, grouped into Pre-order and Notify Me (Back in Stock). Click any report to open its detail page. Date ranges and exporting Every report has a date-range picker aFew readers